Malls warned of closure if physical distancing is not observed
The Joint Task Force COVID Shield warned on Sunday that it will shut down malls that fail to strictly enforce physical distancing amid reports and social media posts showing glaring violations on the first day of operations of some malls in the country.
Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, commander of the JTF COVID Shield, said that what
happened in some malls on Saturday appeared to have not followed the guideline sets during the dialogues between the government and mall managers.
Eleazar said he had already coordinated with PNP chief Gen. Archie Gamboa in order for police commanders around the country to personally relay the warning to mall managers and other business establishment owners in their respective areas of responsibility.
“As per instruction of the SILG (Secretary of the Interior and Local Government Eduardo Año), we will not only facilitate the closure of these malls but will also initiate the filing of appropriate charges against the management,” said Eleazar.
Photos and videos of mall-goers violating the physical distancing order inside the malls went viral in the social media on Saturday. Other netizens also narrated their experience about how the physical distancing was brazenly violated in malls.
The JTF COVID Shield earlier said police visibility will be intensified outside the malls in order to ensure that the wearing of face masks and physical distancing are observed.
“While part of our efforts is police visibility in the said establishments, it is not our job to guard them,” said Eleazar.
Eleazar said they have already forwarded the names of the malls and other business establishments where the physical distancing rule was violated to the concerned police commanders.
“These commanders were instructed to warn the management of these malls and make sure that the warning be personally relayed to the mall management and other similar establishments,” said Eleazar.
“Other police commanders should also initiate meeting with the mall management to remind them of the protocol and warn them of the consequences if they would fail to observe the protocols,” he added.
Based on the guidelines, mall security managers should have already computed how wide the mall common areas in order for them to have an idea on the maximum people that would be allowed inside.
The rule is that each two-square meters of the common areas of the mall is limited to one person only. Shop owners inside the mall should also control the person going inside their shops to observe social distancing.
Security guards and mall employees should also be on a regular patrol inside the mall to observe and remind people of the rules on
social distancing and wearing of face masks.
Those who cannot be accommodated after the mall reaches the maximum capacity will have to queue up outside the mall and wait for their turn to replace those who would exit the mall. Physical distancing should also be observed in the waiting area outside the mall.
Eleazar said all police commanders were instructed to regularly monitor the movement of people inside the malls in order to ensure that the basic rules on physical distancing and wearing of face masks are observed.
He said they were also directed to familiarize themselves with other protocols issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for the resumption of mall operations and other businesses.
Eleazar also urged the public, particularly the netizens, to continue informing the JTF COVID Shield of the violations inside the mall for appropriate and immediate actions.
“Let us work together to make sure that all the measures aimed at protecting each and everyone of us are strictly observed,” said Eleazar.